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TCU’s Pachall Will Not Face Team Discipline

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FORT WORTH (AP) – TCU coach Gary Patterson says starting quarterback Casey Pachall will not face team discipline after the junior admitted to police in February that he used marijuana and failed a drug test.

Patterson said Pachall has completed drug and alcohol counseling mandated by the university and no suspension will be handed down.

“One thing I’ve liked is that he’s been honest,” Patterson said. “His dad is a retired highway patrolman. One thing he’s always been told to do is to be honest.”

As football players were reporting Sunday for the start of fall practice, Pachall gave a statement at the start of a news conference and apologized for his actions.

“With the expectations I have when I step on the field, I need to have those same expectations off the field as well,” said Pachall, who threw for a school record 2,921 passing yards last season as a sophomore.

Pachall was interviewed by Fort Worth police after his former roommate, linebacker Tanner Brock, and three other TCU football players were among the students arrested Feb. 15 after a six-month drug sting.

All four arrested players were kicked off the team, and have received probation after pleading guilty to marijuana delivery charges.

In a police report released last week, Pachall said in February he smoked marijuana just prior to failing a drug test. Pachall also told police he used cocaine and ecstasy in the previous year, but said “Both were just a one-time thing and (he) hasn’t done either since.”

Police released Pachall while Brock was taken away from the residence in a police car.

On Sunday, Pachall gave about a 1-minute statement to reporters before Patterson took the podium.

“I know I’m not perfect,” Pachall said. “But I’ve learned from those mistakes and I’m still learning. It’s a day-to-day process for me of trying to be a better person.”

Pachall and the Horned Frogs are preparing for their first season in the Big 12 Conference after seven years in the Mountain West. TCU won its last 24 conference games.

The school is also completing a renovation of Amon Carter Stadium for its debut campaign in the Big 12.

Instead of discussing football and TCU’s new conference home, Patterson spent a majority of the 30-minute press conference addressing Pachall’s situation and the off-field issues swirling around the program.

Patterson said TCU players have taken 25 drug tests over the past 18 months, including six since February.

“This is not one of those things where we’re pushing it aside,” Patterson said.

Pachall completed a school-record 228 passes last season as the Frogs went 11-2. He also threw 25 touchdowns in his first season as the starter replacing Andy Dalton, who started last season as a rookie for the Cincinnati Bengals.

Junior receiver Josh Boyce, who caught a team-leading 61 passes for 998 yards last season, said the Horned Frogs are ready to put all the distractions behind them.

“We just to have to put all that in the past and get ready for this upcoming season.” Boyce said.